Mark Davis is where he wants to be, and he makes that abundantly clear.

In the Coliseum. Running the Raiders. Trying to repair and renovate two institutions that have seen much, much better days.

But Al Davis’ son needs a better roster, which the Raiders owner has put into the hands of general manager Reggie McKenzie and coach Dennis Allen.

And, heading into the Raiders’ final year on its most recent lease with the aging Coliseum, Davis needs a long-term home for his franchise.

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He and the Raiders are here now. Where will they be next season and into the long-term future?

“What I would like to do is build (a new stadium) right here and start breaking ground tomorrow,” Davis told me near the Raiders sidelines about an hour before Friday night’s exhibition loss to the Bears.

The point is this: With stadium free-agency beckoning, Mark Davis is setting an unofficial countdown, either to get this done in Oakland or to move on.

We’ll see if it jump-starts talks in Oakland, if he keeps to it, and what he might do if the Coliseum re-do concept continues to lag.

Is the possibility of sharing the 49ers’ new Santa Clara stadium starting in 2014 definitely out of the question now?

“For me, I would say it probably is,” Davis said.

In fact, all indications are that Mark Davis has never been in favor of moving into the 49ers’ stadium, despite the NFL’s wishes; his father was always more open to that option (if all other options were worse) than Mark has been.

So, Mark, is Los Angeles on your mind?

“Always,” Davis said. “An opportunity for us to get a new stadium is always on my mind.

“Oakland is first, OK? That’s all I can say.”

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The most likely short-term option, though, is extending the lease in Oakland. “It’s a very good possibility,” Davis said.

But there’s nothing close to a deal so far, one more complication in an extremely tricky time for this franchise.

Right now, the team’s on-field prospects for 2013 don’t look so bright, the current Coliseum situation puts the Raiders at the bottom of the NFL revenue list, and Davis is searching for a new CEO to replace Amy Trask.

Everything’s so deeply in flux that when I talk to heavy-hitters in the league, they wonder: What does Mark Davis really want to do?

Here, he’s laying it out: Davis wants the Raiders to win and he wants it all to happen in a brand-new stadium, planned, financed and built ASAP.

Or else?

Davis has sounded the alarm before. But with the 49ers’ new stadium set to open next year and his ownership in its second full season, Davis obviously is feeling the pressure to settle this once and for all.

“Listen, we’re talking with the city and the county all the time,” Davis said. “And we have another meeting coming up shortly. And we’ll see where that goes.”

Does he want to do another short-term extension like the last one, which was for three years?

“That doesn’t seem to be something that I want to do,” Davis said. “I don’t see where that does any good.

“If you go back and look at when we did the three-year extension last time, and you look at the quotes from the politicians and the people around, they said, ‘Great, now we’ve got an opportunity to work on a long-term deal with the Raiders.’
“If we do it again, then it’s, ‘Great, now we’ve got a long time to work on a long-term deal with the Raiders.’ I think we’ve got to get a little more urgency about it.”

Two weeks ago, Davis told a few media members that playing on the A’s dirt infield through the baseball season was “a travesty.”

On Friday, though, Davis shrugged when I brought it up.
“I don’t think you can change the dirt with the A’s,” Davis said. “That’s just something that we have to live with.

“That’s a deal that we made. When we moved back here, we knew we were going to play on it. So we can’t complain about it.”

Meanwhile, I’ve heard that Davis and his mother recently bought out a limited partner to lift their stake above 50 percent; Davis wouldn’t comment when I asked.

And what does Davis think about the prospects for his team this season?

“I don’t really comment on it,” Davis said. “Right now we’re still trying to find the 53-man roster. I want to win. That’s it. That’s all I want to do.

“It’s going to be a process. We’re going through that process. We had a lot to clean up.”

There’s a lot more to do—with the roster, on the field, and for the owner, who knows where he wants to be. He just has to figure out how to build what he wants to build.

Why can the Raiders not lay field turf over the infield for the 2 preseason and 1 to 2 regular season games that are shared with the A’s season? Is it a possibility to share the renovated Cal stadium? I do not foresee any new stadiums in LA or Oakland in a long while and Mr. Davis may need to think outside the box.

Mr Upside

What a joke Davis won’t entertain sharing a brand spanking new stadium with the Niners. Santa Clara is easily to get to from the East Bay and the South Bay has a strong Raider base anyway. For all the money being dropped on it given how relatively few games are played in football compared to baseball or basketball this should be a no brainer. No way NFL will contribute or help out building a second new stadium within 50 miles on one they are about to finish. If the Jets and Giants fans share then so can these two franchises.

Eezap Skeezap

Could not agree more with Mr. Upside. Why not share a stadium? Hubris? Leveraging Oakland further? Rather play in LA? It’s very frustrating as a fan who would rather have the Raiders anywhere in the Bay Area than not at all. Oakland the city unfortunately has many more pressing issues than the Raiders, and I haven’t seen anything from Mayor Quan to indicate she’s going hard to keep the team. She might actually be at the helm watching the departure of all 3 pro teams.

The Niners wanted a new stadium and took a calculated South Bay risk move that seems to be poised to pay off. Why the Raiders can’t (or couldn’t) get in bed with the Niners on this one is beyond me. Neither the NFL’s nor Oakland’s civic or fiscal landscape is the same as it was in 1994-1995 when the team came back. The Coliseum location is still a good one as far as parking and public transportation, but a new football only stadium here seems like a incredible long shot. While I still think a Raider home game is one of the most thrilling experiences in football with camaraderie and a unique spirit in abundance, the struggling product on the field, dwindled attendance, tarps, and dirt infield do not help the situation.

I am a Raider fan, but this team has the aroma of a team maneuvering to make the move back to LA.

Nipper

Looks like LA is the answer if the Chargers fail to move from San Diego. Oakland will probably never build anything sports related. It’s become a minor league city with three major sports teams either planning to move or ready to move out at the first opportunity.

miguel

The 49ers built their new stadium with no consideration of sharing it with the Raiders. The NFL said that the present site of the O.Co was the best location for a shared stadium. But we know the 49ers would never play home games in Oakland. The NFL also mentioned the island that separates the two cities where the bay bridge goes. Yerba Buena? The 49ers did their own thing, took the NFL money, left the Raiders to their own devices. Where in the hell is the money going to come from to pay for a new Raiders stadium in Oakland?

Kwill2

Raiders best bet is playing at Cal. New stadium in the same market territory. They would never play at the Niners stadium. Think about it, would you want your primary fan base driving an hour south to a gold and red stadium with statues of Bill Walsh and Joe Montana and streets named after Niner greats in a marketing territory thats not even theirs ??? And please everyone, stop using the NY Giants-Jets situation as an example to share a stadium. Both teams are repping the same area in a stadium made for two teams thats located 15 min outside of NYC. Totally different situation.

WTF

“Where in the hell is the money going to come from to pay for a new Raiders stadium in Oakland?”

Taxpayers who else? They also will pay for the overpaid workforce and incompetent city administration and gold plated pension and health benefits (that many taxpayers don’t have themselves). Also need to pay for more police and overpaid social program administrators to at least attempt to stop the record high robberies, burglaries, and murders in Oakland. Of course the taxpayers will continue to elect “great”candidates like Jean Quan & Ron Dellums to office so maybe they deserve higher taxes.

Philip Muniz

Maybe they can move in to the 49ers old stadium lol

J.T.

Go ahead and move, Mark. I watch Red Zone for free on the internet. You’ll never get another nickel from me.

Raiderfan

I’d rather my team play on dirt then have the Raiders have to pay one penny towards the Niners stadium.